STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- When an unarmed person dies as the result of an interaction with the police under any circumstances, it's something that should be cause for grave concern. Not just for the person's family, friends and neighbors, but for the police and the entire community. It can't be shrugged off, as all too many people seem to prefer to do.

And when a person dies as a result of an unnecessary physical confrontation initiated by the police over a crime as trivial as selling loose cigarettes, it should be cause for alarm.

Those who believe that excusing such incidents with tortured rationalizations somehow demonstrates firm support for the police are deluded.

Savvy police officers know that the incident that led to the death of Eric Garner, and others like it, only make their job harder by fostering outrage and mistrust. Yes, selling individual cigarettes — "loosies" — is illegal and the police officers were absolutely within their authority to stop and detain Mr. Garner, as the law-and-order hard-liners insist. And, although widely liked and generally good-natured according to all reports, he may not have led the most exemplary life, at least by some critics' standards.

DIDN'T DESERVE TO DIE

But he did not deserve to die for any of those flaws, especially since the video shot by a bystander clearly shows he didn't even have the chance to resist arrest before he was pre-emptively taken down from behind and put on the ground with several officers on top of him.

Just imagine that happening to your father or brother or son or next-door neighbor for an offense that should have earned him a ticket, at most.

Like the cases of Amadou Diallo, Eleanor Bumpurs and too many others, Mr. Garner's death adds to the lingering suspicion of police officers that gives career agitators lots of rhetorical ammunition and career criminals the cynical atmosphere that makes it much easier for them to operate in some communities.

That being said, we don't think it's too much to hope for that the death of Mr. Garner on a Tompkinsville street on Thursday may mark an important shift in this sad, familiar dynamic.

There was a protest march led by the Rev. Al Sharpton and other familiar figures who always show up at times like this. But the march proceeded peacefully without incident, and (thankfully) seemed to be lacking the intense rancor that we've seen at similar events in the past.

A SENSE OF ACCEPTANCE

Both the marchers and the police seemed to understand that the other side had good reason to be there and so there was a calm sense of acceptance. Sure, there were the predictable cries of "No justice, no peace" and, just for this occasion, "1-2-0 [as in 120th Precinct] has gotta go."

However, all but the most fevered firebrands understood that such rhetoric is not to be taken seriously, but is just part of the tired rite that follows such incidents. That's because both sides seemed to recognize at least tacitly the fundamental truth that the 43-year-old Mr. Garner should not have died at the hands of the police, even if it turns out after an investigation that there was a fundamentally blameless medical reason for his death.

And there is this: The officer who seized Mr. Garner from behind in what certainly seems to be an illegal choke-hold has twice before been sued for civil rights violations.

Again, the critics may scoff, but it's noteworthy that three black men who came within the same officer's orbit went so far as to sue.

People who come in contact with the police under such circumstances seldom pursue legal action, believing, not without reason, the deck to be stacked against them. That's not an indictment of this officer, but it is indicative.

More telling: The officer who grabbed Mr. Garner was stripped of his gun and shield within hours, and has been taken off the streets, assigned to an administrative job. Another officer involved in the incident has been placed on desk duty, according to one report.

BELIEF IN A THOROUGH PROBE

And a number of marchers expressed confidence that the city's probe of the incident will be thorough and forthright. That's not something that we heard in protests after such incidents in the past.

Meanwhile, Emerald Garner, Eric Garner's grown daughter, proved to be a beacon of good will and wise beyond years when she said, "There are officers with good hearts. And once one officer does something bad to somebody, everybody looks at all of them wrong. And it's sad. I feel bad for them."

She quickly added, "Like Eric said, 'This will end today.'"

She's right in both her words and their implication.

As disheartening and troubling as this episode is, there is a clear way forward from this point for both the community and the police — but only if both choose it.

It's up to city officials as well as local leaders to stress the importance of that choice so Mr. Garner's death will not have been in vain.Enough of this, as Emerald Garner says.

We believe people of good will can hope that this tragedy propels all parties toward awareness and even reconciliation and that the otherwise pointless death of an ordinary man on the streets of Tompkinsville can mark a turning point in the history of police-community relations in this city.